Hannah+Joe l Bennington Vermont Wedding Photos

Served fresh on the blog this afternoon are Hannah+Joe’s Bennington, Vermont wedding photos! This is, without a doubt, one of my favorite weddings of the summer. I traveled to Hannah’s parent’s property in Bennington, VT last fall to get a feel for where everything would take place. I knew quickly this was going to be a highlight of my summer. It turned out even better than I had hoped, and I don’t say that lightly. Below you will find a Q+A with Hannah, then onto the photos!

What are your wedding colors and/or themes? We wanted the palette to be summery and romantic so we used a variety of blush pinks, peaches, whites, some yellow, and greenery! We also wanted the setting to speak for itself and tried to adorn it only in ways that enhanced it.

What is your inspiration when planning your wedding? Again, we had this really romantic vision for everything. We wanted it to feel like a Vermont home wedding–soft, summery, and simple in a way that was still very thoughtful. So much care went into each detail, and we think that showed. On a separate note, we wanted to have a really FUN wedding. Joe and I both love to dance and we knew we wanted the dancing to be interspersed throughout the beginning of the evening and then to have a lot of time left for a big party after dinner. So we planned it so that after our first and parent dances, we went straight into inviting everyone up to the dance floor before salad was even served! Then we danced again before the entree, and for the rest of the night afterward. Joe and I were dancing almost the whole time!

Did you incorporate any fun themes/motifs or design elements? For our invitation, my father did a drawing of an apple tree. That’s a motif we used in our welcome bags and on our ceremony programs. I painted and drew all of the table numbers, created the escort card frame, wrote/drew all of the signs we used on the property, and also did the place cards that were at the three head tables.

Did you include any special traditions, old or new? Joe and I created our whole ceremony. We wrote most of what our officiant read. We felt it was important to write our own vows as well, and we think that was by far the most meaningful part of the ceremony. We also selected several readings–one from my favorite novel, one from a children’s book, and the last was a Robert Frost poem, which we chose because he wrote it to his daughter on her wedding day and because he spent a lot of time in the Bennington area. We also planted an apple tree the day before the ceremony, and then completed the planting during the ceremony! Since we got married in my parents’ apple orchard, we wanted to honor that and we loved that the tree is a symbol in many ways for marriage and for family. So all of these things are “new” traditions. What is an “old” tradition is that we got married at my parents’ house in Old Bennington, VT. My parents did the same exact thing 30 years ago–got married at my grandparents’ house in Old Bennington, VT!

Is there anything else you’d like to share?
-Joe and his groomsmen’s suits are all from Joe’s custom suit shop, Sebastien Grey. We wanted them to have a formal look so they’re a beautiful rich navy. And then we added a little fun to it by choosing navy ties with white polka dots from Tie Bar. Joe’s shoes were Cole Haan :)
-My mother surprised us by creating two “Family Trees,” which means that she hung photos of our family in one apple tree, and photos of Joe’s family in another!
-Along with the band and the aesthetics, Joe and I cared a lot about the food, which is why we chose Mezze. Their food is incredible both in taste and presentation, and the whole staff was a pleasure to work with.

From the moment I stepped into the library I knew this is where I’d have the getting ready take place. Just a gorgeous room!

Hannah keeps our streak of #hotcwbrides alive!! Just ask her bridesmaids :)
One of my favorite spreads from the entire day
Hannah just looked absolutely stunning. Her Amsale dress was the perfect choice, the light, the property, everything was a slam dunk

Joe and the guys were back at the Equinox starting the day off
You might have read about this above from Hannah, but her mother setting up these “family trees” that you had to walk through in the orchard to reach the ceremony site were awesome and very much a hit
It’s nice when you’re parent’s have an orchard on their property to use for the wedding!
Love these real moments during the Bennington VT wedding ceremony
I wish I could shoot in a ceremony location like this every weekend

Immediately after the ceremony we took a stroll to the front of the property to steal a few private moments
Back at the tent everything was getting set up for the reception

The sun was just starting to drop as we kicked off the first dance
Once we finished the formalities we snuck (ran) off into the orchard for some sunset portraits
Butta light!!
Yes please, just the perfect little kiss of warm light as the sun drops

The party kicked off and went well into the night
I hope you enjoyed viewing these gorgeous Bennington, Vermont wedding photos as much as I enjoyed creating them! Thank you to both families for allowing me to capture Hannah+Joe’s wedding photos!